Personal Experiences in Lucid Dreaming

Abstract

My first lucid dream arose from my discovery as a child of 5 that I could wake myself from frightening dreams by trying to shout “Mother!” Having gained confidence through this discovery that I could escape from unpleasant dreams, I allowed them to continue longer than before. The first time I did this was in a dream in which I seemed to be falling. My instinct was to wake myself before I reached the ground, but, instead, I allowed the fall to go on; by now I was fairly sure that there was no real danger because it was only a dream. As I remember, the fall ended in no sudden bump, but, instead, the dream changed and turned out not to be unpleasant at all.